Three new partners, MiraCosta College, San Diego College of Continuing Education and National Foundation for Autism Research, were selected by industry employers to prepare San Diego’s next generation of tech workers through CyberHire, a program launched by the San Diego Workforce Partnership in October. “We are very grateful to have these new partners to help us connect San Diegans to quality job opportunities,” says Peter Callstrom, CEO of the San Diego Workforce Partnership. “MiraCosta College, San Diego College of Continuing Education and National Foundation for Autism Research will help us achieve our goal of increasing equity in the workplace. This initiative can be instrumental in creating talent for this rapidly growing sector and creating quality jobs and futures for our participants.”
CyberHire provides underrepresented workers a pathway to access quality cybersecurity careers with family-sustaining wages and career advancement opportunities.
According to a report released by EDC and CCOE in June 2021, the cybersecurity industry has a $3.5 billion impact on the San Diego region and accounts for 24,349 jobs across 874 firms. Despite cyber employment growing by 7.4 percent since 2018, 80 to 90 percent of local cyber companies cited difficulty sourcing qualified workers.
In order to meet the region’s growing need for cybersecurity talent and help unemployed, underemployed and low-wage San Diegans secure a quality job and launch meaningful careers in cybersecurity, the San Diego Workforce Partnership joined forces with San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and San Diego’s Cyber Center of Excellence (CCOE) to launch an employer-led initiative that provides resources to students from verified training programs, including funding for industry-recognized certifications with all fees covered by CyberHire. Participants will also have the opportunity to earn experience through an internship and/or on-the-job training experience.
The workforce of the local tech industry does not reflect San Diego’s diversity and lacks representation from women and people of color. Addressing this opportunity for increased diversity, CyberHire will serve up to 185 participants who come from historically under resourced communities.
Funding for CyberHire is provided through a two-year grant of $1.5 million from The James Irvine Foundation, a philanthropic nonprofit organization that seeks to promote social equity of America’s most populous state through its grants to expand economic and political opportunity for low-income Californians.
Those interested in learning more or applying for the program can visit workforce.org/cyberhire.